Cool Hand Luke 4K review by Bobby Blakey
The film sports a great supporting cast including a young Dennis Hopper, Harry Dean Stanton and Wayne Rogers all of whom I had no clue was in the film. Everyone here is excellent with Newman and Kennedy doing most of the heavy lifting and both showcasing why they stood so tall in the industry. The film is simple in its execution, but there is truly so much more here as a character study on these inmates and their place in this world.
This new 4K version looks outstanding and just further adds to the overall experience of this iconic film. I really loved this film and so glad to see it getting this treatment so it can be seen how it should be and hopefully find an all new audience.
Grab your copy of Cool Hand Luke available now on 4K for the first time from Warner Bros.
Warner Bros studios is currently celebrating their 100th Anniversary and what better time to dip into the vault and release some of their more iconic films on 4K. One of them is the 1967 classic Cool Hand Luke starring Paul Newman, George Kennedy, J.D. Canon, Robert Drivas, Lou Antonio, Strother Martin, and Jo Van Fleet from director Stuart Rosenberg.
Cool Hand Luke follows a man who will not surrender to authority--even at the cost of his life. When Luke Jackson (Newman) is sentenced to a Southern prison for a minor infraction, his intelligence, calm under pressure and inability to accept defeat soon gain him the respect of his fellow inmates on the chain gang--and the nickname Cool Hand Luke. But they also earn Luke the enmity of the warden, who cannot allow any inmate to challenge his authority. When Luke's mother dies, he decides to escape ... and he will not allow anyone to stop him.
As much as I love movies there are still a few of the classics that I either have never seen or only saw parts of it. I swore growing up I had watched this film in its entirety, but after getting to revisit it I realize that I don’t think I have seen it all other than maybe it playing in the background when my dad was watching it. I am glad this has now wrong has now been righted because this movie is excellent.
Obviously from the acclaim it has there is no need for me to gush over it, but I am going to anyway. I love prison flicks and this one goes all in with building a great brotherhood of these inmates and their own issues while still keeping compelling and interesting. There isn’t really much of a purpose to the whole thing or even really explain why Luke is how he is, but you don’t really need it. Newman is so good here you just want to watch and live his experience with him.